Railway car and truck construction



I. A. PILCHR'. HMLWAY CAR/IND TRUCK coNsmucnoN.

I APPLICATION FILED M/IY I7, 1920. 1,406,076, Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

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m ONT uwulmv mi] @Lunney J. A. PILCHER.

RAILWAY CAR AND TRUCK CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17. 1920.

1,406,076, Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

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guna/ufo@ I wauw/3% Eva/QAM J. A. PILCHER.

RAILWAY CAR AND TRUCK CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATIONl FILED MAY 17, 1920.

1,406,076, l Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3. Fbfl. E

wifcucboea W a' 6MM/M @gv an Q J. A. PILCHER.

RAILWAY CAR AND-TRUCK CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED MAY I7, 192g.

1,406,075, Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' track conditions.

`ed arrangement of Figure 3. Figures 9, 10 and 1 1 are fragmentary views, in vertica JOHN A. rILCRER, orv

RCANCKE, viReiNr'A.

RAILWAY CAR AND TRUCK CONSTRUCTION.

/. Application led. May 1 7,

T o'aZZ whom it may Concern:

Be it known that 1,' JOHN- A. PILCHER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and tate of` Vir inia, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in Railway Car and Truck Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesto .trucksfv'for railway vehicles or the like and has for its principal object to provide an improved method of carrying the load of the car body. An# other o'b'ect is; to provide improvements in thedetail form and arrangement of truck members whereby the loads may be properly equalized, while at the same time the forces will be carried by the truckparts in a direct manner and with the expenditure of a reduced amount of metal. hereinafter appear.l

The invention consists of the formation, combination and arrangement of vparts as will be shownand described,and particularly as will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings which forma part of the present application, andwhich show a preferred `embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a plan view of a locomotive tender having two trucks arranged in accordance with the present invention. Figure. 2 is a side elevational view of the same. Figure 3 is a plan view of a slightly modified arrangement of the same system of support. Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view, in side elevation, of the lower portion of a tender, indicating the displacement of the trucks under certaink Figure 5 isa transverse vertical section taken through the tenderv and truck, approximately on the line B-B. of Figure 2. Figure 6 is a broken sectional view of the tender and truck, this view being taken substantially on the line C--C of Figure 2. Fi ure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on t e line A-A through the center trunnion between the tender and a truck.

Figure 8 is a fragmentar view taken Ain section on the line -D of igure 3 and showing the arrangement of rockers in` the. modi'- cross section, showing two methods of construction for the equalizing bolster of the tender. Figure 12 is a partial plan view of one of the trucks, FigureA 13 a side elevational 'view of the same. Figure 14-is an end Specification of Letters Patent.

same truck, the sectioned portion being Other objects will ed upontwo trucks,

l der or car body Patented Reb. 7, 1922. 1920. seri-a1 No. 381,535.- l elevational view, partly .in section, of the taken approximately on the line E--E of Figure '12. Figure15 is a slightly enlarged side elevational view of a portion of the.

two co-acting truck side frames together with various of the cooperating equalizing members employed therewith. Figures 16, 17, 18 and 19 are vertical sectional views taken through the side frames and e ualizing members on the lines F--F, Gr-G, -LH and J-J respectively, Figure 15. Figure `20 is an end elevational view of one Vof the e ualizer struts, Figure 21 a side elevational view lof the central equalizerlever, Figure 22 an end elevational view of one of the spring seats and Figure .23 a side elevational view of one of the springsea't equalizers.

Referring now to these drawings, ythe body of the car or tender is indicated by the numeral 50. Secured beneath this is the center sill 51, which is fqormed of a suitable section such as a single I-beam as in Figures 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, or of a pair of channels as in FiguresS and 11. The tender is supportL the front end truck being marked Front and the re'arend one being marked Rear in Figure 2 for reference. rlhe weight of the tender is applied to the rear truck at four points, 52, 53, 54 and 55, and to the front truck at three points, 56, 57 and 58, Figure 1. In the modification shown in Figure fore has four supporting points and 55, and the load is carried by the front truck at three points, 59, 60 and 61.

The invention has to do primarily with such a method of'supporting the load of or 4adjustment of one bearing; spect to the general plane.

sirable to have the same simple arrangement for the other truck, but w en entering or leaving a curve it is necessary that the tenassume a certain warped position because of the gradual elevation of the center rail to attain the full superfelevavation by the time the full degree of curvature is reached. If now the tender should 3 the rear truck as bebe supported at each end upon four unadjusting points in a plane, it will be seen that a deci ed inequality of loading would result because of the greater super-elevation of the rail at the front truck than at the rear truck.

In open top cars such as gondolas and hoppe s, the car body does not offer a high resistance to the torsion necessary to prevent such unequall loadings, but in a closed top car su h as atender it is difficult to warp the body sufficiently to allow such a method of support. Accordingly the present invention v plane, just as a three leg ed stool will always fitto any irregularity o surface.

The details of this portion of the construction can be best seen in Figures 5 to 11. TheI cross section of Figure 6 shows the supportlng on the front truck at the points 5'6 and 57 of Figure 1 or 59 and 60 of Figure 3. The identical construction may be used for the rear truck at the points 52 and 54 orl 53 and 55. In this construction, roller seats 62 are aiiixed at suitable points to the body of the tender immediatelyover co-operating seats 63 on the detachable trucks. Rollers or rockers 64 are interposed between these seats and these are arranged in radial fashlon to permit the trucks to swivel under the tender about the central swivel points 65.

At the front end.l of the front truck there are provided the same bottom roller seats 63 and rollers 64, but the top roller seats 66 shown in Figure 5 are not secured directly and rigidly to the tender floor but are carried at the ends of a cross equalizer 67, which in turn receives the load of the tender at the central sill, at 68, in Figure'5. This equalizer surrounds the center sill and has a bottom tie member 69 which passes beneath the same. A broken detail of this tie constructiony is shown in /Figure 9. The loading point 68 may be constructed in a variety of ways. In Figure 5 ball-shaped bearings are secured to opposite sides of the center sill web, near the -top of the sill, and the companionhalves of the equalizer 67 are provided with sockets for co operating in a rocking vfashion with these bearings. In Figure 10 the sockets are shown as aiixed to the sill and the ball-shaped bearings as formed on the ends of theequalizer halves. In this figure also the bottom tie member 69 of the equalizer is shown of link and pin construction instead of the `riveted tension member of Figures 5 and 9. In Figure 11 f the same construction is shown as adapted to channel center sills instead of I-beam sills as in the preceding forms of this construction. While these several modifications in equalizer construction are shown, yet they all have the one point in common; that the g load is applied to one point and that the superimposed tender may rock laterally, at least within limits, upon the equalizer. In Figure 3 the equalizer' is omitted and the load from the point 61 is applied directly to the truck at this central point. In this construction rollers 69 of the same type as used at the other points are inserted directly between a top roller seat 70 and the bottom roller seat 71. The seat 70 is attached to the center sills as at 51 and the seat 71 is formed at thel center of the truck cross bolster 72. The three sets ofrollers in this construction allow the trucky to swivel about the center 65 and at the same time prevent pinching and binding from the warp of the tender when entering or leaving a curve.

It is of importance that such a system of loading be carried upon trucks which are fully equalized, so that one wheel of a truck can never be loaded more than the others from the local warping of the tender. To this end the trucks are constructed in accordance with the principles of equalization set forth in the Hankins Patent, #1,241,37 5 of Sept. 25, 1917. In the present use of this truck there is a possibility of movement of one spring seat 63 out of the general plane o f these seats, hence the central portion of the truck bolster is formed of a steel plate 73. This carries at its center the female portion 74 of the trunnion 65, there being a local stifl'ening member 75 secured beneath this plate and the member 74. The load from the tender is applied to the truck cross bolsters 76 at the aforesaid rollerseats 63,

Vthe plate 73 extending between these cross bolsters and being secured thereto at 77, the plate 73 thus holding the entire truck square but yet allowing a limited relative vertical displacement of the roller seats 63. The ends of the cross bolsters 76 are carried upon bolster springs 78, which are here shown as of elliptic form.

The side frame` equalization follow the Hankins principles from this point on .although some special features of constructlon have been introduced to adapt this truck to the particular use. The truck side frames at each side of the truck are made in two s ections, 79 and 80, the first of these carrying the one end oil box, 81 and the second the other end oil box 82 and the middle oil box 83, the trucks being of the six wheel type. Tie bars 84 extend from the oil boxes to the side frames. The side frame, or section, 79, is hinged to the frame over the mid dle oil box at 85. Each lof the side frames has a window opening for accommodating an end of oneof the cross bolsters 76 and a spring 78. This window opening is defined upon one side by the truss tie member 86 and at the other side by the guide member 87. Each of these members is formed to guide this point as a cente motion upon t being capable of some slight rotation uponthe lever 91. The lever 91 is seated between its extremities, at 92 in sockets formed upon the side frame so that it may fulcrum about The upward reaction of the inner. end of thislever froinlthe spring load is received by a strut 93 which alsoV is arran ed to have aslight rockin V to either the lever 91 or the lever 94 but is y simply set in position between them, the

load always tending to keep the` strut in there being suitablel pockets position and provided to prevent accidental displacement of the parts should the load be removed.

A similar series of levers and strut is provided for each of the side frames -7 9 and 8O so that the load of the tender puts an upward force into each end of the lever 94 through a strut 93. This lever is attached in pivoted fashion to the side frame 80 at the trunnion point 8'5 between the two frames. In yorder to provide this two-fold pivot the inner endv 95 v.of frame 80 is made of box section with an open end into which the end 9G of frame 79 extends. This end of frame 79 is made of rocker shape and seats in a cooperatively' formed pocket 97 in the lower,

' inner face of the said box section. Cast out from each side of the boxed end of frame 80 isa cylindrical bearing 98. The lever 94 is made of two parts, one being positioned -upon avbearin'g The lower end 99 of they strut 93 is made#y along each side of the boxed end 95 and of reduced width and extends through ai suitable opening .on the mid-line of the frame. The upper end 100 of the strut is made of greater width so that the ends of the halves of the lever 94 will seat-in parallel fashion between the upstanding retaining flanges 101. The lever 91 is disposed for the major portion of its length within the cavity of the side frame,` suitable openings being provided for its insertion and operation. lThe lower end ofthe spring seat 88 also 'extends within the cavity of the .side framle.

Thus when the frames are assembled and the various levers and struts set together in place, it will be seen that the entire outfit K e lever 91. The upper end o thestrut 93 reacts upon the bearing at this is interlocked without the use of a single bolt or other similar fastening. The springs and bolster then being applied the bolster keepers 102 are riveted fast and the entire truck is held together.

It will be appreciated that the entire loadis applied to a truck frame at the point 92.

The frame tiemember 86 is located in line with this point and the frame is arched about this tie line as a center oi action. It' will be understood that the frame member 87 is for bolster guiding and brake action'- forces alone and has no part in the true truss action. The frame is accordingly made deepest atthe line of the member 86 and the top and bottom arch members extend in straight lines from here to the points of final reaction. l

The invention, an embodiment of which is thus described, provides a most economical andv satisfactory method of supporting a railway vehicle. Other embodiments are possible within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is,

1. A railway vehicle having a supporting truck at each end, the load being applied to one of the trucks at four points and to' the other 'at three points.

2. A railway vehicle having a supporting truck at each end, the load being applied to the one truck at four points spaced laterally and longitudinally from eachother and beingV applied to the other truck atthree points arranged in triangular fashion, one of said *pointsl being located substantially on the longitudinal center line of the veh1-l cle.

3. A railway vehicle having a supporting truck .at each end, each -of which is prov vided with a plurality of load-receivin seats, there being means provided for equ 5. A railway vehicle having a supporting truck at each end, each of which is provided with four load-receiving'seats, there being a reduced number of load imparting seats on the body of theyvehicle,y ywith centrally loaded equalizing means extending betweenv at least two of said seats on the trucks.

6. A railway vehicle having a truck, a v

transversely disposed equalizercarried b the vehlcle body and bearing at its en upon the truck, the said equalizer being centrally loaded and being capable of a pivotal movement with respect to the vehicle body.

7. A railway vehicle having a truck, a

transversely disposed equalizer carried by the vehicle body and bearing at its ends upon the truck, the said equalizer being centrally loaded and being capable of a pivotal movement with respect to the vehicle body, there being at least one other bearing point of the body upon the same truck.

8. In a railway vehicle having a center sill and a truck, a transversely disposed equalizer carried by the vehicle body and bearing at its ends upon the truck, the said equalizer being arranged to receive loads at its center from the center sill.

9. In a railway vehicle having a center sill and a truck, a transversely disposed equalizer carried by the vehicle body and bearing at its ends upon the truck, the said equalizer being arranged to receive loads at its center from the center sill, and being formed to surround the said center sill.

10. In a railway vehicle having a center sill and a truck, a transversely disposed equalizer carried by the vehicle body and bearing at its ends upon the truck, the said equahzer being arranged to receive loads at its center from the center sill, and having a tie member extending in floating fashion beneath the center sill.

11. In a railway vehicle having a center sill and a truck, a transversely disposed equalizer carried by the vehicle body and bearing at its ends upon the, truck, the said equalizer having a pivoted load-receiving bearing upon the center sill and being l capable of a slight rotative motion thereabout.

12. A railway car truck having a bolster with a lurality of load-receiving seats and a p lur ity of load-carrying members, and means connecting the said loadcarrying members arranged to admit of a slight relative change in horizontal plane of the saidlload-receiving seats but at lthe same time to hold the same in fixed relationship laterally and longitudinally of the truck.

13. A car truck side frame having top and bottom arch members which converge at the ends of the frame land diverge to a maximum at a point mediate the ends, a tie member connecting the arch members at the point of greatest divergence, and means for applying the load to the frame at the point of the said tie member.

14. A car truck side frame of trussed construction having topand bottom arch members which are joined together at the ends of the frame and are in spaced relationship throughout the intermediate portion of the frame, there being a bolster window opening in the said frame, the same being dened at one side by a vertical truss member and at the other side by a guide member, the latter being independent of the truss action in the frame.

15. In a car truck, a plurality of side frames and cooperating equalizers and connecting links, the side frames being coupled and the equalizers and links being soy arranged and assembled as to interlock and to hold the side frames in coupled relationshi 11h testimony-whereof I aiix my signature.

` JOHN A. PILCHER. 

